JOHANNESBURG - According the police's annual report, there are almost 190,000 personnel in the South African Police Services.
From this number, many are office based, meanwhile about 100,000 are hitting the streets. This is almost 25,000 police who are actively trying to protect over 60 million people.
Criminologist, Prof. Christiaan Bezuidenhout says the number may be skewed as some officers are off due to physical or psychological injuries. Medical conditions, post-traumatic stress and depression.
Many others are under investigation, with few exposed in the Madlanga Commission.
Bezuidenhout says a true estimate could be between 80,000 and 100,000.
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Shifts and police hours can also play a huge factor as to how they operate and fight crime.
According to the UN Global Median, a country must have about 300,000 police per 100,000 people.
"This means one officer per 333 people," says Bezuidenhout.
With South Africa's current population, there are about 39 police officers on duty per 100,000.
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"This translates to about one police officer per 2,565 residents, who is really low," he says.
Bezuidenhout says we are not winning the war on crime. Instead, we have normalised it. It is why the private security industry has also boomed.
"Security has become a commodity," says Bezuidenhout.
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"If you can afford it, you are safe," he adds.
Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) says they have about 600,000 actively employed private security officers and about 2.5 million personnel registered on their books.